TEN THINGS TO REMEMBER
ABOUT LENT
Journey To The Foot Of The Cross:
10 Things To Remember During Lent
1. Remember the formula. The Church does a good job
capturing certain truths with easy-to-remember lists and
formulas: 10 Commandments, 7 Sacraments, 3 Persons in the
Trinity. For Lent, the Church gives us almost a slogan—Prayer,
Fasting and Almsgiving—as the three things we need to work on
during the season.
2. It’s a time of prayer. Lent is essentially an act of prayer
spread out over 40 days. As we pray, we go on a journey, one
that hopefully brings us closer to Christ and leaves us changed
by the encounter with Him.
3. It’s a time to fast. With the fasts of Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday, meatless Fridays, and our personal disciplines
interspersed, Lent is the only time many Catholics actually fast
these days. Maybe that’s why it gets all the attention. “What are
you giving up for Lent? Hotdogs? Beer? Jellybeans?” It’s almost
a game for some of us, but fasting is actually a form of penance,
which helps us turn away from sin and toward Christ.
4. It’s a time to work on discipline. The 40 days of Lent are
also a good, set time to work on personal discipline in general. In
addition to giving something up, we should try to do something
positive. “I’m going to exercise more. I’m going to pray more. I’m
going to be nicer to my family, friends and co-workers.”
5. It’s about dying to yourself. The more serious side of Lenten
discipline is that it’s about more than self-control; it’s about
finding aspects of yourself that are less than Christ-like and
letting them die. The suffering and death of Christ are foremost
on our minds during Lent, and we join in these mysteries by
suffering and dying with Christ, and being resurrected in a
purified form.
6. Don’t do too much. It’s tempting to make Lent some
ambitious period of personal re-invention, but it’s best to keep it
simple and focussed. There’s a reason the Church works on
these mysteries year after year. We spend our entire lives
growing closer to God. Don’t try to cram it all into one Lent.
That’s a recipe for failure.
7. Be aware of our weaknesses. Of course, even when we set
simple goals for ourselves during Lent, we still have trouble
keeping them. When we fast, we realize we’re all just one meal
away from hunger. In both cases, Lent shows us our weakness.
This can be painful, but recognizing how helpless we are makes
us seek God’s help with renewed urgency and sincerity.
8. Be patient with yourself. When we’re confronted with our
own weakness during Lent, the temptation is to get angry and
frustrated. “What a bad person I am!” But that’s the wrong lesson.
God is calling us to be patient and to see ourselves as He does,
with unconditional love.
9. Reach out in charity. As we experience weakness and
suffering during Lent, we should be renewed in our compassion
for those who are hungry, suffering or otherwise in need. The
third part of the Lenten formula is almsgiving. It’s about more
than throwing a few extra dollars in the collection plate; it’s about
reaching out to others and helping them without question as a
way of sharing the experience of God’s unconditional love.
10. Learn to love like Christ. Giving of
ourselves in the midst of our suffering
and self-denial brings us closer to loving
like Christ, who suffered and poured
Himself out unconditionally on the cross
for all of us. Lent is a journey through the
desert to the foot of the cross on Good
Friday, as we seek him out, ask His
help, join in His suffering, and learn to
love like Him.
17 THINGS YOU MIGHT CONSIDER GIVING UP THIS LENT:
1. Guilt – I am loved by Jesus and He has forgiven my sins.
Today is a new day and the past is behind me.
2. Fear – God is on my side. In Him I can conquer all.
3. The need to please – I can’t please everyone anyways. God
is the only one I need to strive to please.
4. Envy – I am blessed. My value is not found in my possessions,
but in my relationship with my Heavenly Father.
5. Impatience – God’s timing is the perfect timing.
6. Sense of entitlement – The world does not owe me anything.
God does not owe me anything. I live in humility and grace.
7. Bitterness and Resentment – The only person I am hurting
by holding onto these, is myself.
8. Blame – I am not going to pass the buck. I will take
responsibility for my actions.
9. Gossip and Negativity – I will try harder to think
constructively when it comes to other people.
10. Comparison – I have my own unique contribution to make
and there is no one else like me.
11. Fear of failure – You don’t succeed without experiencing
failure. Just make sure you fail forward.
12. A spirit of poverty – Believe with God that there is always
more than enough and never a lack.
13. Feelings of unworthiness – Believe you are loved by God.
You are here for a reason. You have a purpose to influence
others for Christ.
14. Doubt – Believe God has a plan for you that is beyond
anything you could imagine.
15. Self-pity – God comforts us in our sorrow so that we can
comfort others.
16. Lack of counsel – Wise decisions are rarely made in a
vacuum.
17. Pride – Blessed are the humble.
18. Worry – God is in control and worrying will not help.
God has so much in store for you. But many things may be
holding you back from walking in the full destiny He has laid out
for you. Lent is a time to renew yourself and start anew with God.